JETBLAST: LOS ANGELES @ WINNIPEG

JETBLAST

The Winnipeg Jets will open their home schedule Friday night against the visiting Los Angeles Kings. The Kings come to town on the second half of a back to back after coming from behind late last night, beating Minnesota 3-2 in a shootout. Winnipeg also enters looking to build off an opening night win in Edmonton. This will be the Kings second visit to the MTS Center, the first ending in a 1-0 overtime win for the Winnipeg Jets back in November of 2011. If that was any indication of the game these two teams will play Friday night it is sure to be a beauty.

Kings

Los Angeles comes in still boasting one of the premiere teams in the NHL. Last season they went to the conference final before being ousted by the eventual champions, The Chicago Blackhawks. The year before of course the team captured their first ever Stanley Cup, and much of the core of both those teams is still intact. The Kings are led by a core of proven winners, from Jonathan Quick, a Conn Smythe winner, to Mike Richards, a guy who has won and nearly every level of hockey he has ever played at. The Kings will provide a tough test for the Jets and it will be a different game from what we saw Tuesday night in Edmonton. LA plays much more of the hard checking defensive “Western Conference” style. La looks to again challenge for the Stanley Cup and teams will need to be playing their best hockey on any night if they expect a win against this Kings team.

Jets

Winnipeg comes in riding a wave of emotion after their first opening night success. Though the Jets showed many holes and idd not play all that great of a game they fought through it and came from behind, earning two points with a 5-4 win in a hostile building. Much has been said of the newcomers to the Jets lineup, who contributed 4 of the 5 goals. Jacob Trouba leads the charge in this respect as after scoring his first goal, assist, and leading the Jets in ice time in his first NHL game has drawn rave reviews. The Jets will need the same play by him as well as an improved overall attention to team defense. Winnipeg looks to be dressing much of the same lineup which will give this team another chance to build as one cohesive unit, something they will need to do quickly if they hope to compete in this game, and the Western Conference as a whole.

Keys to the Game

Take Advantage: The Kings are coming in after a long night in Minnesota that will not have them arriving in Winnipeg until the early hours of the morning. The Jets must take advantage and jump on the Kings hard and quick. Take the body and use speed to your advantage on a team that may be tired.

Capatalize on chances: This will be a key much of this year. With the style the Western Conference plays a team is not likely to get many chances, and for a team like Winnipeg which struggles to manufacture goals this may be a rather large problem. When they do get a chance, a powerplay, oddman rush, or turnover they need to be able to cash in.

Defensive zone play: Both the defenseman and forwards need a larger commitment to the defensive zone. Tuesday night there were long periods of time where the Jets were trapped in their own zone, getting caught out of position and giving up big chances. This cannot happen if the Jets want to win this game.